


Paragonia: The Last Defense

by DestinyWolfe



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Basically the team goes into a hyper-real fantasy virtual reality game to catch a cyber killer, Case Fic, Digital World, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Gaming, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Medieval, Medieval Fantasy, Romance, Video & Computer Games, Virtual Reality, Will add more tags if I think of any that apply, vr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-22
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2019-01-03 21:59:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12155625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DestinyWolfe/pseuds/DestinyWolfe
Summary: After a notorious gamer at a high-end entertainment company in Honolulu offering hyper-realistic virtual reality experiences dies while immersed in the game, Five-0 is called in to investigate. In order to gain access to the digital crime scene and understand how the victim died, the team has to enter the world of Paragonia: The Last Defense.Not only that, but they'll have to fight their way through three different levels--each harder and more complex than the last--before they reach the plane of the game where the murder took place. On top of everything else, they're not sure if the murderer still has access to the digital world. For all they know, death in Paragonia might not be as impermanent as its programmers originally intended.(Disclaimer: I don't own Hawaii Five-0, any of its fantastic characters, or any other aspects of its official canon. I'm just messing around, as I do, for my own entertainment.)





	1. Level Zero

**Chapter One: Level Zero**

“Make absolutely sure your sensory suit is on right, okay?” 

Kono nodded to the equipment assistant hovering at her shoulder as he nervously pointed out an unstrapped buckle near her waist. She snapped it shut and cinched it tight around her hips, straightening up with a smile. She spread her arms, doing a half-spin as if modeling an elegant dress on a catwalk. “Be honest.” She put her hands on her hips, barely hiding the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth. “How do I look?”

The assistant blushed, opened his mouth as if about to say something, then thought better of it and slumped away toward the building’s front desk. “Call me when you’re ready to hook into the game,” he mumbled as he exited the changing hall.

“You want honest?” Chin said. He stood a few feet away, arms crossed as he watched her adjust straps and tug at loose fabric. 

Kono lifted an eyebrow: a playful challenge. “Bring it, cuz.” 

Chin smiled. “All right, then. It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you that a buckle-clad puppet made from a badly-stretched white tube sock seems to be eating you alive.”

Kono laughed. “That bad, huh?”

Chin made a face. “That bad.”

“Chin, Kono.” Steve stepped out of the dressing room next door. “You guys ready to go?”

Kono and Chin exchanged a loaded glance. Kono’s grin turned to a smirk. “Let’s see: Am I ready to enter a super expensive and incredibly advanced virtual reality game to investigate a digital crime scene and catch a cyber serial killer?”

Steve’s lips curved up to match her expression. “That’s what I’m asking.”

“Born ready, boss.” She reached down to fiddle with the straps over her stomach, tightening and loosening them as her body shifted and acclimatized to the alien slide of the full-body VR suit against her skin. “As awkward as this thing is, I’m about ninety-nine percent sure it’s on right.”

Steve crossed his arms, his gaze flicking from Kono to her cousin. “Chin, you ready?”

Chin nodded. “I’ll get suited up as soon as you, Kono, and Danny are in. I’ll stand by and monitor your vitals until it’s clear the system isn’t going to reject you. Or that anyone is planning to attack us while our guard is down.”

“Good thinking.” Steve turned away, backing up past the dressing room he’d just exited until he reached the one next to it. He reached out and rapped his knuckled none-too-lightly on the door. “Hey, Danny. You need some help in there?”

From inside came a vicious string of curses, followed by one of Danny’s signature rants. “This is like trying to wear wet tissue paper, Steven. I’d like to see you get one of these fucking things on without taking more than _fifteen minutes_ , I mean, if these were made for human beings then maybe, _maybe_ they shouldn’t have made them roughly the size and shape of a polar bear or, or a particularly upright walrus.”

“My suit’s on, Danny,” Steve said, grinning broadly. He glanced at Kono, mouthed “ _Upright walrus?!_ ” and she pressed her lips together to smother a rising tide of laughter. His amusement was contagious. 

“Maybe that’s because these were clearly originally designed to restrain large, vicious predatory animals, and that’s exactly what you are.” There was a sharp series of clicks, followed by more creative cussing. “I don’t want to be here, Steve; it’s Saturday night, and while this might come as a shock to you, risking my life in some digital fantasy world where the computer systems running it could go rouge and murder me at any given moment is _not_ my idea of a good time. Forcing me to strap a giant saggy balloon to my body is adding insult to injury, and if it wasn’t literally my job, I would’ve outright refused to have any part in any of this. And just for the record, just so you know, I hate you all so much for this.”

“Noted,” said Steve, “now come out of there before we start dying of old age.”

Kono caught Steve’s eye again and burst out laughing. “Come on, Danny; it’s not so bad,” she said. “Trust me, brah, this saggy balloon is going to look super cool once we’re in the game. Any armor you want, the game will tailor it directly to your form.”

The door to the dressing room burst open, and Danny emerged. His suit was on (for the most part) and his usually perfectly-styled hair was messy from what had clearly been an epic struggle. “I don’t want armor,” he said. “I want to go out to a relaxing bar and have a beer and a steak and, uh, and not have to chase bad guys through a digital wasteland that, as far as I know, is designed specifically to try and kill me.” Steve opened his mouth, clearly about to deliver a counterargument or correction, but Danny cut him off before he could start. “No, shut it; I’m not done. Because unfortunately for me, my drinking buddies are also my certifiably insane colleagues who, by the use of some dark voodoo magic I still don’t understand, convinced me to be at a crime scene—a digital crime scene, no less—on a Saturday afternoon while all the happy normal people are relaxing and winding down after the end of their stressful and taxing work weeks.” He paused for a moment, crossing his arms over his chest. “So if I’m less than thrilled by the idea of being here, there’s the reason.”

“That was about fifty reasons,” Steve said. He was still smiling, which seemed to irritate Danny infinitely more. Kono watched with growing amusement as Steve continued, “Unfortunately, none of them are valid excuses to duck out on your teammates, so I expect you to give this mission your one-hundred percent, even if you don’t feel like it at all. Capiche?”

“‘Capiche?’” Danny made a broad gesture of disbelief. “Who the _fuck_ says ‘capiche?’”

“I dunno; must’ve picked it up from you.” Steve raised his eyebrows, smirking. Before Danny could reply, he turned to Kono, jerking his head down the hallway at her back. “Let’s head back to the connection room. We’re running out of daytime hours, and I wanna get as much info as possible off the servers before the system resets tomorrow.”

“Why,” Danny complained loudly as Kono and Chin led the way down the hall, “did this guy have to kill someone on a Friday, huh? No sense of common decency or respect for the American work week. When we find this guy, I’m gonna---”

“—Talk him to death?” Steve guessed. And with that, the two of them were off again, swapping insults and complaints like an old married couple arguing over who took the last slice of pie.

Kono reached the end of the hall and turned into the room titled “Connection Room.” She reached over and flicked on the lights, then pressed the little red call button labeled “assistance.” For all her own tech knowhow and Chin and Steve’s rock-solid understanding of computers and technology in general, Kono wasn’t willing to risk improperly hooking their suits up to the system. Besides, if Chin was going to stand by and monitor the process as his teammates entered the game, they’d be perfectly safe from anyone attempting to sabotage them while they were unconscious. 

The assistant rushed into the room, followed by two others dressed in what looked like blue medical scrubs and gloves. One of them, a woman around Kono’s own age, caught her look of apprehension and smiled reassuringly. “We’ll be hooking you up to some fail-safes,” she explained. “Just a few IVs and sensors here and there to keep tabs on your vitals.”

Danny, who had been swapping heated words with Steve up until that point, seemed to magically tune into the conversation at the mention of IVs and vitals. “Hey, hey, hold it.” He held one hand up like a traffic director signaling ‘stop.’ “Have you had problems with these things, huh?” He raised his eyebrows at the female attendant who had spoken, gesturing for emphasis. “Is there, uh, anything we should be aware of before letting you people knock us out and stick a bunch of needles in us?”

The attendant crossed her arms, shaking her head. She frowned. “Apart from the murder you’re investigating—which was most definitely a murder, as you know—we’ve never experienced any serious issues with any of our clients. But we can’t be too careful, even if no one’s reacted poorly to entering the system yet, it is a possibility.”

“And what does ‘reacting poorly to entering the system’ look like, exactly?” Danny shot back immediately. Kono glanced at Steve, then at Chin. They all wore identical looks: a mixture of apprehension and amusement. Their hot-tempered teammate continued, picking up steam as he went. “Because if there’s a chance, any chance at all, that going into this stupid game of yours is going to cause me to, I don’t know, have a stroke or develop a serious neurological condition or have a seizure something, that’s it. I’m out. No thank you.”

Steve put a hand on Danny’s upper arm in what could’ve been a half-hearted attempt to subdue him. Steve shrugged at the attendants, who were all three looking uncomfortable and a bit unsure how to reply. “Sorry about my partner,” said Steve. “He’s not the thrill-seeking adventurous type, as you can probably tell.”

Danny shrugged out from under Steve’s grip. “That’s right, I’m not a thrill-seeker. You wanna know why?”

“This should be good.” Steve crossed his arms. “Go on, enlighten us.” 

“Because--” Danny used his pointer finger to stab the air with vicious intent, “--a ‘thrill-seeker’ is the nicest name for someone who is either desperate to die, out of their mind, or both. You, my friend, are the worst kind of thrill-seeker. See, you, you actually _enjoy_ the thought of staring into the gaping maw of death every single day for the rest of your life, because as far as you’re concerned, you’re impervious to consequences, including but not limited to permanent physical damage. Unfortunately, since the universe continues to confirm that flawed thinking over and over and over by keeping you alive, it’s just getting more and more reinforced the longer I know you. But you know what, Steven, you know what? Someday—possibly today, if the last over-strained dregs of my good luck have finally run out—your craziness is going to get us all killed. My only consolation is that, albeit at great cost to myself and my closest friends, I will finally be proven definitively right.”

Chin cleared his throat, gaining Steve’s attention before the argument could get any farther along. “You guys not have enough time to get all this out of your systems on the drive over?” 

Steve sighed. “We came in different cars.”

“You know why that is, Steven?” Danny said. “Because it’s _Saturday,_ which means _today is my day off_!”

“Guys, guys.” Kono held up her hand, closing her eyes briefly while trying (and failing) to hide a smile. “Focus.” She turned back to the assistants in their blue scrubs. “We’re all ready to go,” she informed them. “Do we just—?” She gestured at the four nearest tables in the room. They were laid out, obviously waiting for new players to enter the game.

The assistant Kono had met in the dressing room earlier nodded. “That’s right, ma’am,” he said. “Just lie down and get comfortable, and we’ll hook you into the system.” He approached the closest bed and smoothed down the plastic sheet covering it. Probably only there to keep it from looking too much like a mortuary slab, Kono thought. She wasn’t nervous (not really) but she appreciated the effort to tone down the morbid, hospital-like atmosphere nonetheless. “Are you all going in at once?” the assistant added, looking between the four watchful, waiting Five-0 members and frowning slightly.

Chin shook his head. “I’m staying out. I’ll stand by and monitor their vitals while they’re under.”

Kono shot Chin a quick smile. “Thanks, cuz. You’re really taking one for the team here.”

“Why can’t I take one for the team?” Danny asked.

Steve put his hand on Danny’s shoulder again. “I don’t trust you with the equipment, Danno,” he said. Smiling, he added, “’sides, I want to know what you’d look like in chainmail.”

“I’m not wearing chainmail.” Danny stalked toward one of the beds. He hesitantly laid a hand on the plastic cover, making his _everything-is-awful-and-I’m-not-impressed_ face.

“Remember how he insisted on wearing a tie for almost two years when he first arrived?” Chin reminded Steve, lifting one eyebrow. “Good luck getting him into anything more casual than what he has on now.”

“You should listen to him,” Danny agreed.

Steve shrugged, moving past Danny to stand at the next bed over. “Hey, if they have button-down shirts and slacks in a medieval video game, go crazy.”

Kono laughed, shaking her head at the three of them as she walked past her teammates. She carefully hoisted herself up onto the third bed down. She spread out, lying on her back with her hands folded on her chest. “Ready when you are,” she told the assistants, offering them a small smile.

While the other settled onto their beds and arranged themselves into comfortable positions (or whatever came closest, in Danny’s case—Kono wasn’t sure ‘comfortable’ was in that man’s dictionary), the female attendant hooked several IVs and heart/respiratory monitors up to Kono’s suit-clad body. “This will sting a bit,” she warned, and a moment later Kono felt the sharp pinch of a needle in her thigh. “Next thing you know, you’ll be entering the game. Good luck!”

The last thing Kono saw before gray fuzz obscured her vision was the gentle, encouraging smile of the attendant standing over her. And then she was falling, falling through blackness toward a bright blue light a million miles away.


	2. Out in the Open

**Chapter Two: Out in the Open**

Moments after falling unconscious, Kono blinked awake. She tried to sit up, and found that she was already standing. Stranger still, the ill-fitting material of the sensor suit had vanished, leaving her mostly unclad. Glancing around, she was happy to find herself alone. The room she’d awoken in was enormous, circular, and filled with row upon row of hangars. Outfits and armor of every conceivable color, build, and material draped off racks and hooks on the walls. In the center of the room was a rickety-looking ladder. It led up through a rectangular hole in the ceiling. A wooden sign hanging from the closest clothing rack read, in ornate engraved letters, “ _Find your style, noble adventurer!”_

Still dazed by the sudden immersion into a digital reality, Kono turned in place, looking around at everything. She was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of clothing in the circular space. Walking as if in a dream (which, in a way, it was) she made for a rack of armored corsets labeled “ _Archer’s Attire_.” It would be fitting, she thought, thumbing through the beautifully carved metal and leather tops, pants, and skirts, if she played a bow-wielder in the game. After all, her sniping skills in the real world were highly regarded and widely renowned. If they wanted to beat the game and find the killer, they’d have to work to their advantages. Accurately shooting things from a long way off was definitely an advantage. Especially in a world like Paragonia. 

After what felt like half an hour of careful analysis and internal debate, Kono decided on an expertly-crafted leather archer’s corset reinforced with elegant, stylish, and (most importantly) protective metal designs. The leather was a dark forest-green, while the inlaid metal pattern was a lighter, more vibrant shade. 

Strapping on the corset, as well as wrist-bands and fingerless gloves that would keep the fletching on her arrows from scuffing up her fingers and inner arm, Kono paused to look around again. She spotted a thin black belt and a long, elegant gray-green skirt that would be easy to crouch down and take aim in. She finished off her outfit with a pair of knee-high armored boots; like the rest of her outfit, they fit as if specially tailored to her form.

As she approached the ancient ladder in the center of the room, Kono spotted another engraved wooden sign hanging from the top step. “ _Climb up and claim your weapon!”_ it read. 

Kono placed one foot cautiously on the lowest step. It creaked, but held strong. She reached for the top step, pulling herself up like a wildcat climbing a well-branched tree. She ascended into the lightless room above. 

As soon as her booted foot left the top step, and she stood on solid ground once more, the trapdoor slid shut and the ladder disappeared. At the same moment, ghostly blue-green lanterns flickered to life all around her, illuminating the attic-like space. She blinked, giving her eyes a moment to adjust before looking around. 

The first thing her eyes fell on was a sleek yew-wood bow. It hung beside a myriad of other weapons. There were shiny, short swords, daggers, and sets of ornate throwing knives. 

Walking across the small, dusty-smelling and poorly-lit space, she reached up and removed the elegant bow from the wall. It seemed almost to vibrate in her hands, as if reacting to her touch. Gripping it tight in one hand, Kono retrieved the quiver of arrows hanging beside it. She strapped the quiver to her belt, briefly riffling through the fifteen arrows it contained to make sure none were bent or damaged. 

“Wise choice,” said a voice from the shadows. 

“Who’s there?” Kono spun immediately to face whoever had spoken, instinctively drawing an arrow and nocking it. She fell into a half-crouch, drawing the string and pinching the fletched end of the arrow tight. “Show yourself. Come out slowly!”

From the shadows came a woman with silver hair and bright, kind brown eyes. She held her hands up, palms out, and smiled. “I’m here to show you the way to Paragonia,” she explained. “My name is Arina.”

Slowly, Kono let the tension in her bowstring go slack. She removed the arrow and replaced it in her quiver. She offered Arina an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I’m Kono. This is my first time in the game.”

Arina tilted her head, returning the smile. “Ahh, wonderful! You’re in for a good time, then.” She turned away, fiddling with a keyring on her belt. She extracted a silver key and stuck it into a previously-hidden lock at the far end of the weapons attic. As soon as the key sank into the mechanism, the glowing gold outline of a door appeared in the wooden wall. Arina pushed it open and stepped through. Kono followed close behind.

Arina led the way down a passageway lit by strange, floating balls of silver light. They dodged away when Kono lifted her hand as if to touch one. Like oversized fireflies cloaked in bottled moonlight. She laughed breathlessly, her heart pounding with amazement. It all felt so incredibly, impossibly real. 

At the end of the passageway was another hidden door. Arina again fiddled with her keys until she located the correct one. She shoved it into the invisible lock. Immediately, the doorway swung outward, revealing a brightly-lit and incredibly vivid world outside. She spread her hands invitingly, shooting Kono a glittering smile. “Best of luck, Kono,” the guide said. “You’ll make a fine ranger. May your strength never falter, and your arrows fly fast and true.”

Kono dipped her head in grateful acceptance of the older woman’s blessing. “Thank you for your help,” she said earnestly. Stepping past Arina, she crossed the threshold and entered the world of Paragonia.

. . . . . .

Kono felt her breath stick in her throat as she stood in the bright light of a new dawn. All around her, a world of fantastic beauty stretched away to a horizon ablaze with sunlight. Overhead, three ghostly full moons hung in the sky, so close and detailed Kono felt she could reach up and stroke their barren, cratered surfaces. Between where she stood and the edge of what she could see was an endless field of green, broken only by deep, rocky crevasses filled with sparkling blue rivers and cloaked in roaring waterfalls. A warm breeze caressed her face, playing with the silken strands of her dark hair. In the not-so-far distance, a towering city of white marble caught the light of the sun. It burned like a beacon of civilization in the wild lands. The path under her feet meandered through the countryside, curving and climbing up to meet the silver city’s front gates many miles away. 

When she had gotten over the initial shock of seeing Paragonia for the first time, Kono turned back toward the doorway she’d just come through. To her surprise, it had disappeared. So had Arina. 

Kono was alone once more.

At least she thought she was, until she heard a familiar voice call her name. Turning, she saw two figures—one tall, one about a head shorter—making their way down the path toward her. Gripping her bow tightly in one hand, she jogged up to greet them. “Danny! Steve!” She called their names. 

They met beside a particularly deep crevasse. The path curved around, offering a breathtaking view of the cliff and the roaring blue waters below. Kono stopped dead when she reached them. She grinned broadly, taking in their new outfits. “Looking sharp,” she said.

Steve was wearing a shirt of scaled chainmail painted blue and silver. When he moved, it was like watching sleek fish darting to and fro through the clear waters past Waikiki Beach. Strapped over the scale mail on his chest, shoulders, and flanks were thick, heavy, rounded plates of armor. Strapped about his waist was a thick black belt. The belt’s oval ring was bright turquoise, and seemed to glow with a light of its own. Draped around his shoulders was a long, heavy ocean-blue cloak. Thick leather arm guards were strapped to his forearms, the straps holding two sets of short throwing knives—easy access, Kono noted. In one leather-gloved hand, Steve held a glowing blue trident. The fierce, barbed tips of the weapon glinted dangerously in the light of the rising sun.

Danny, who stood (as always) by Steve’s side, was wearing a suit of polished white-plate armor. The outer edge of each expertly-nested plate was gilded with gold, and his chest plate and golden belt were inlaid with shining sapphire gemstones. His entire body below his neck was covered in thick, impenetrable armor, including his gauntlet-clad hands and booted feet. A two-handed greatsword was strapped to his left hip. Like the rest of his armor, the hilt was gold and inlaid with blue stones. The scabbard was white and tipped in gold. In the light of morning, Danny’s armor shone as bright as the distant city of marble.

“Looking good yourself,” said Steve, returning Kono’s grin.

Danny gestured to the bow in Kono’s hand. “You, uh, you know how to use that thing?”

Kono lifted one eyebrow. “Yeah. I used to go out and practice with Chin when we were kids. He was good. But I’m better.”

“That’s my girl,” said Steve. “I think the better question, Danny,” he continued, turning to his partner, “is can _you_ use _that_?” He gestured at the enormous sword by Danny’s hip, smirking.

Danny looked affronted. “It’s a sword, Steven. You pull it out and swing it at things.”

Steve made a sharp sound of disbelief. “It’s a medieval weapon, Danny. People train for decades before mastering the use of weapons like that.”

“And how would you know?” Danny shot back. “Do they teach you medieval sword fighting in SEAL School?” Steve opened his mouth to reply, but Danny cut him off. “Before you say anything, I want to make it clear I’m not trying to _master_ anything here. All I want is to survive long enough to make it back to the sane, normal world, and then hopefully—if this isn’t asking too much—find five fucking minutes to relax somewhere that you aren’t.”

They started down the path, back toward the distant, shining city. Kono took the lead, leaving Steve and Danny to fall in behind. After all, it seemed that they’d be occupied with this new argument for a while. 

As she strode down the well-worn dirt path, her mind began to drift. She tuned out the escalating back-and-forth of the verbal slap fight happening behind her, focusing instead on the incredibly strange and unique situation they’d somehow found themselves in. As beautiful and stunning as this new, strikingly vivid world was, Kono knew they’d have to stay laser-focused on their goal if they wanted to succeed. Whoever or whatever had murdered that gamer was somewhere out there—or maybe _in_ here—and they had to find the killer before the killer found them. There wasn’t time to stop and smell the digital roses.

. . . . . .

By the time they’d navigated around the second-to-last crevasse standing between them and the marble city, the sun had begun to go down. The rolling green hills of Paragonia went from vibrant green and glowing to gray and shadowed. A change came over the landscape. Kono felt the wind shift. The warmth faded from its touch. She shivered, suddenly wishing grabbed a heavy traveling cloak like Steve’s. 

“Hey, Kono.” Steve moved up to walk beside her as they approached the final crevasse. “I’m thinking we should try to cross that gap ASAP. If there’s a bridge, we should take it. As far as I can tell, going around the near end would take all night. Especially at this pace,” he added, shooting a meaningful glance over his shoulder at Danny.

“All right, y’know what, fuck you, superman,” huffed Danny. “This might not be real, but that does not under any circumstance mean I no longer have the need to rest, sleep, eat, or drink, unlike some people. I hate this. My feet hurt, my head is throbbing, my clothing is made of five tons of metal, and I am trapped in a wacked-out fantasy game with no way of escaping except for playing along with a potentially murderous computer system.” He paused briefly for breath, before continuing, “You two have seen _2001: A Space Oddessy,_ haven’t you? Remember how that ended, huh? Not good!”

Kono did her best not to smile. It wasn’t an easy feat. Somehow, Danny’s persistent grumpiness was endearing, even if it did occasionally drive Steve crazy. (Although Kono had the feeling Steve enjoyed his partner’s long-winded rants a lot more than he let on.) “Aww, c’mon, Danny,” she said. She reached over and put one hand on his spiked, heavy shoulder-guard. “It costs upwards of three-hundred thousand for one hour in this thing! Enjoy the good life while you can.”

“Yeah, Danny.” Steve had started down the path again—it sloped steeply up, toward the edge of the crevasse—but he paused to look back at his partner as he spoke. “At least you don’t have to worry about getting shot at.”

“Says who?” Danny gestured broadly for emphasis. “For all you know, a deranged wizard king riding a dragon could shoot me from the sky!”

Kono let her hand fall away from Danny’s shoulder. She started up the trail after Steve. “If anyone shoots at you,” she told him, “I’ll shoot right back. And trust me, I’m the better shot.”

Her bold claim didn’t seem to comfort Danny, but the confidence in her own voice made Kono feel stronger. The last of her apprehension drained away. In its place, a cold, calm sureness sank into her like a stone tossed into the ocean. _We’ll beat this game,_ she thought, _and then we’ll catch our killer._

Up ahead, Steve stopped dead. He’d reached the edge of the crevasse, and seemed to be contemplating how to continue. As Danny and Kono cautiously approached, he held up a hand as a warning. 

“Is there a bridge?” Kono asked, not sure she wanted to know the answer.

Steve shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s not in the best shape. Kono, you should be fine, but I’m not sure how much weight this thing can handle.” He sighed. “Danny, I told you plate armor was a terrible idea.”

Danny stopped about ten feet from the edge, looking massively apprehensive. “What do you want?” He spread his hands imploringly. “What am I supposed to do, huh? Strip down and walk around in my underwear?”

“You coulda chosen something practical,” Steve said. “Like Kono.”

“A corset and a skirt?” Danny made a broad, sweeping gesture at Kono’s outfit. “Really?”

“Hey, I thought you liked corsets.” Steve’s smirk was evident in the slant of his words. Before Danny could reply, he added, “Kono, you mind coming over here and taking a look at this?”

Kono stepped carefully up to stand beside Steve. In the fading light of late evening, supplemented by the silver glow of Paragonia’s three moons, she could just make out a thin, rickety suspension bridge draped between the two sides of the cliff. Near the middle, several boards were missing, leaving large, precarious gaps. Far below, so far down it lay entirely in shadow, a river roared and gurgled. “I dunno, boss.” She frowned. A pang of doubt shot through her chest. “Looks pretty sketchy to me.”

Steve nodded. “I agree. But what’s the worst that can happen?”

Danny muttered something that sounded like _“permanent and painful death_.” Kono ignored him. “Worst case,” she said, “we all die and the scenario resets. We’ll have wasted time and effort, but not much progress.”

Steve hesitated. He nodded again. “Okay, how about this: Anyone who wants to try crossing here can do that. Anyone who’d rather hike around the crevasse can do that. Assuming we survive, we’ll meet back up in the city. Sound good?”

“No, that does _not_ sound good.” Danny put one hand on his sword’s hilt, gripping it so tight Kono was sure it would leave permanent marks in the leather-bound grip. The other hand he used to gesture wildly, first at the gaping gorge, then at Steve. “What happens when you fall in and die, Steve? Huh? What then?”

Steve shrugged. “Then I’m out. No big deal. If you and Kono die, we reset in a new setting, new scenario. If you make it to Level 2, I respawn there. I don’t see what your problem is.”

“My problem? You wanna know what my problem is? _You’re_ my problem! Because I don’t think you’re, uh, you’re considering the very real possibility that a person didn’t kill our victim, the _game_ did! What if the system is screwed up, and when you die in here, you die out there?”

Steve smiled. “You’ve been watching too many sci-fi flicks, Danny.”

Kono opened her mouth, but before she could speak, a distant clanging of metal on metal echoed across the moors. Whirling, she had an arrow nocked and her bowstring drawn in half a second. She drew the bowstring back to her ear. She sighted down the arrow’s shaft, inhaling deeply to steady her nerves. “Hey guys,” she said, voice low and intense, “we’re about to have a big problem.”

Spreading across the hills behind them were hundreds—maybe even thousands—of goblin-like creatures. They held circular shields and a myriad of sharp, deadly-looking weapons. There were swordsmen and spearmen, as well as archers. It was this last group that made the bottom of Kono’s stomach drop out. Unless they could manage to stay out of range long enough to reach the marble city, they were pretty much fucked.

Steve seemed to come to the same conclusion. “Okay, new plan.” He turned an intense gaze on his two companions. “Either we cross right now, or we die here.” His eyes passed over Kono’s face, before settling on Danny’s. “We’re outta options. We gotta go now.”

Kono nodded. Adrenaline sang in her veins, turning her blood to liquid fire. “How do you want to do this?”

“Kono, you go first.” Steve stepped aside, providing access to the rickety, swaying bridge. “If anyone’s gonna make it, it’s you. Danny, go after Kono. I’ll be right behind you.”

Danny opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to protest, but Steve shut him down with a sharp, “Go, _NOW!”_ In the not-so-distance, the clanging of sword on shield grew louder. The goblins were preparing to attack.

Kono didn’t hesitate. Un-nocking her arrow, she replaced it in her quiver. Strapping her bow across her back, she took a deep breath. Doing her best not to think too much about what she was about to do, and avoiding looking past the first board, she stepped out onto the bridge.

Behind her, the goblins sent up a chilling war-cry. They charged. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who has commented, subscribed, bookmarked, or left kudos on this story! I appreciate the support so much. I really hope you all enjoyed this second chapter. <3


	3. The Bridge

**Chapter Three: The Bridge**

The bridge swayed like a new-born foal beneath Kono’s feet. She gripped the frayed rope-rails tight, every step a gamble that the rotting wooden planks wouldn’t give out and send her flailing helplessly into the void.

Behind her, Danny swore loudly. She glanced back. He was about ten feet back, bracing himself against the movement of the bridge with a look of pure terror on his face. As she watched, an arrow soared past his shoulder. She ducked, barely avoiding the barbed projectile herself. It glanced off the bridge and fell, spinning wildly, into the abyss. “Danny!” she yelled. She made a _come-here_ motion with one hand, desperation welling up in her chest. “You have to move! Now!”

Danny shook his head. Even in the dark and at a distance, Kono could tell that he was entering panic-mode. Not good. She’d have to act fast if she wanted to keep Steve’s plan (if it could even be called that) in motion. Turning around, she backtracked until she stood just a foot away from Danny. She grabbed his hand—the solid, sleek metal of his gauntlet cut into her bare left palm as she gripped tight—and forcefully pulled him with her as she did an about-turn and made for the opposite side of the crevasse. 

“Keep moving, keep moving!” Steve called after them. “We’re already in range of their bowmen. Estimated ETA on the swordsmen is a minute or less!”

A chill went down Kono’s spine. She swore internally. She and Danny were almost to the center of the bridge, but Steve… Steve would be cut to pieces, unless he crossed in less than a minute. Which was possible, but not probable. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to move faster. Reluctantly, Danny followed close behind.

About three-fourths of the way across, Kono came to a dead halt. Ahead, a gap of five or six feet loomed, board-less and impassable. In the darkness of early night, she couldn’t make out the condition of the boards on the other side. If they jumped (even if they made the distance) the force of landing could break the bridge and send them both plummeting into oblivion. 

“I hate this!” Danny yelled, once he realized why they’d stopped. “I’m going back! I’d rather get stabbed to death than fall in that hell-hole!”

“No!” Kono tightened her grip on his hand. “Listen, Steve can’t hold off an army forever. But until we’re across, he’s not gonna get himself out of danger. Do you see what I’m saying?”

As she’d hoped, her words caused something to harden in Danny’s gaze. He set his jaw, pulled his shoulder back, and nodded. “Yeah, all right. Okay. All right.” He took a deep breath, letting it out in a gusty explosion. “Okay, go. I’ll be… I’m right behind you.” 

Kono squeezed his hand once—she wasn’t even sure he’d feel it through all that metal and leather—and turned to face the gaping void. Swallowing hard, she crouched down. She couldn’t give herself any more time to overthink this. She’d just have to go for it and hope for the best. Inhaling deeply, she flexed her muscles. Pushing off with all her might, she jumped out over the abyss. 

For the half-second she was airborne, Kono felt as if she were flying. The chill night air whistled past her ears. She extended her hands, reaching for the rope-rails. She threw her feet out in front of her like an eagle plummeting to catch a fish. When her booted feet struck the board on the other side, it creaked and bowed, but didn’t break. She landed smoothly, grasping the ropes for support. Twisting around, she looked back over her shoulder. The edge of the board she stood on was a bare inch from her heels. She’d made it. Barely.

Danny was watching her with intense apprehension. He crouched near the edge of the gap, both hands twisted in the guide ropes. “It’s too much!” he called after her. “It’s too far; my armor’s too heavy. I’ll never make it!”

Kono clenched her jaw. According to the quick calculations she’d done in her head, Danny was right. There was no way he’d make it. “Hold on,” she said, trying and failing to keep her voice even. “We can figure something out. Just hold on, and I’ll—”

At that moment, the bridge shuddered and bounced violently. Kono crouched down, gripping the guide ropes tight. She let out a shout of surprise. A volley of arrows rained down a moment later. They stuck into rotten boards, or whizzed past into the bottomless gorge. A few bounced off Danny’s armor with a loud, shattering clatter. 

“What the _hell_ was that?!” Danny fell to his knees. The way the boards under him were bending, Kono guessed he was just moments away from falling a whole lot farther. 

Kono shook her head. She was breathless with shock. The bridge bucked again, and fear flashed through her like electricity down a wire. “No idea!” she called back. Miraculously, her voice was steady, if a bit strained. Blinking, she tried to see past Danny to where Steve had last stood. “Danny, can you see Steve?”

Danny closed his eyes. He inhaled—Kono heard the rasp of air as he sucked in a particularly deep breath—and half-turned his body to face the far side of the gorge. He shook his head. “No! No sign of him!” Danny’s tone thickened with fear and concern. “Kono, I have to go back. Get to the other side and wait for us there.”

Kono straightened up. The bridge shook again, but she managed to stay upright by clinging to the rope-rails with all her strength. “Danny, no! There’s no point…” Her voice trailed off when she realized he wasn’t listening. He’d already turned around and was headed back down the way they’d come. Kono took a few deep breaths, centering herself. As much as she wanted to go after Danny, she wasn’t sure she could make the jump back across. The way the bridge was moving, even the most well-calculated leap could end in disaster. 

Instead, she turned and made for solid ground. A few more gaps stood between her and safety. However, with her light armor and long legs, they proved much easier to navigate. Within fifteen seconds, she’d crossed the final stretch and made it back to hard, grassy land. Half-collapsing as her shaking muscles finally gave out, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She peered back over the cliff’s edge. 

In the dim light of the triple moons, she could just make out two figures stumbling up the bridge toward her. One (she thought it must be Danny, from the way his armor shone in the moonlight) seemed to be supporting the other. As she watched, they reached the place where the first and biggest gap had been. They stopped dead. She held her breath. Desperation pounded her heart. She clenched her fists, grasping a handful of grass and ripping it up by the roots. _Please,_ she prayed to no one in particular. _Please, let them make it._

Danny crouched down. Kono strained to see what he was doing in the dark. A moment later, she realized: he was pulling up the boards behind him and laying them across the gap. A spark of hope flared in her chest. Maybe, just _maybe_ , that would work.

Once he’d laid down a thick span of boards, Danny slipped his arm back around Steve’s shoulder. They rose together, stepping out onto the rickety, bending, half-rotten boards spanning the gap. Kono held her breath. It was only moments, but seemed to take years. And then Danny and Steve were across. Behind them, the boards Danny had laid across the gap fell, down, down into the dark.

After that, it was just a matter of getting over the smaller gaps and making it to the far side before the goblins caught up. Kono could see arrows falling like rain around her two teammates. Most missed entirely, but a few struck the frantically running figures dead-on. In the dark, and from a distance, she couldn’t tell if any damage had been done. She fervently hoped not—it looked like Steve was already in a bad way.

Against the odds, Steve and Danny made it past the last four gaps without falling to their deaths. Kono stood up as they approached, ready to pull them to safety should the bridge collapse at the last moment. Which was a real possibility—with the goblin army hot on their heels, the already unstable bridge was being pushed far beyond its limits. 

“Kono, cut the ropes!” Danny shouted as he half-carried, half-dragged Steve toward safety. “Cut the ropes and drop the bridge, now!”

Kono threw herself onto her stomach. Steve and Danny were almost across. They’d make it, even if they had to jump the last foot or so. Now, the most important thing was keeping their determined foes from doing the same. 

She drew an arrow from her quiver, reaching down until the sharp edge of the arrowhead sank into the bridge’s bottom support ropes. She sawed through the left side in seconds. Half of the bridge fell away, just as Steve and Danny reached the shore and collapsed together in a heap of armor and exhaustion. Kono made quick work of the other side. With a satisfying _snap,_ the suspension bridge’s final support gave way. The entire structure fell back toward the opposite cliff. With loud clangs and many furious cries, a large portion of the goblin army tumbled down with it.

. . . . . .

The final three-mile trek to the shining marble castle took all night. In his efforts to keep the goblin army from reaching the bridge, Steve had sustained considerable injuries. Despite his thick and expertly-crafted armor, two arrows had punctured his right flank, drawing a torrent of blood. A throwing knife had stuck into his right arm-guard, piercing the protective leather and sinking deep into his wrist. On top of that, Steve’s confused mental state suggests that one or both projectiles had been laced with poison. He seemed mostly unaware of what was happening around him, and required both Kono and Danny’s support to keep him standing.

When they reached the gilded gate of the moonlit city, the sun had just reappeared on the distant horizon. Morning spread golden fingers over the moorlands. Kono basked in the welcome warmth. After everything they’d been through that night, it was therapeutic to see such pure, unfiltered light.

“This is ridiculous,” Danny snapped. He had one arm around Steve’s waist, the other on the hilt of his sword. His face was smeared with blood and dirt. His white and gold armor was stained red. He and Kono had done their best to stem the blood flowing from Steve’s wounds, but despite their efforts, their team’s fearless leader hadn’t stopped bleeding since the bridge incident. “If the jokers in this city don’t open up and let us in _right now_ , I swear to God I’ll kick down their gates and break their faces. All of them.”

Kono shot him a sideways look. She raised her eyebrows. Danny’s mood, which had started out foul enough, was deteriorating along with Steve’s condition. “Let’s try knocking first,” she suggested, “and then we can resort to violence.”

Danny mumbled something incomprehensible. He tightened his grip on Steve, supporting his partner as Kono moved away toward the towering golden gates.

Taking a deep breath, Kono reached up and grasped one of the two enormous eagle-headed knockers in both hands. She slammed it back down, repeating the gesture three times. “Hello!” she called to the parapets far above. “We’ve got a man down. We need a healer, ASAP. Can you open the gates?”

A few moments passed in silence. Then, a woman’s face appeared over the parapets. She was wearing a polished silver helmet. Her light hair, tangled and matted, framed her face and spilled past her shoulders. “You wish to enter the City of Espolsha?” Her voice was clear and loud, like the first birdsong in the early morning. “What is your name, and where do you come from? What is your purpose in entering the city?”

Kono glanced back at Danny and Steve. Danny had half-lowered Steve to the ground, one hand around his shoulders and the other—now ungloved and bare—pressed to his pale cheek. Danny’s head was bent, so Kono couldn’t make out his expression. But his posture told her that they were running out of time.

Swallowing hard, she looked back up at the guard. “My name is Kono Kalakaua. I’m a ranger from beyond the moorlands. I wish to enter the City of Espolsha to meet with a great healer, who I hope can cure my friend.” She did her best to match the guard’s tone and diction. _This is just another undercover op,_ she told herself. _Nothing I haven’t done a hundred times before._

The guard’s eyes narrowed. She seemed to think over what Kono had said for a long, tense moment. Then, with a jerk of her head, she agreed. “All right. I’ll have a guard escort you to the Hall of Healing. Tell your friends that, as long as they stay out of trouble, they are welcome in the Shining City. Our healers will see to it that everything in their power is done to cure your wounded companion of whatever it is that ails him.”

Relief flooded Kono’s body like morphine. Her shoulder sagged as stress bled out of her. For the first time, she realized how utterly exhausted she was. Carrying Steve across the moors, even if Danny had been doing half the work, had not been an easy task.

The gates parted with a loud _crack-crunch._ Gliding outward, the double doors opened to reveal the interior of Espolsha. A cobbled street led between buildings of glittering marble and gold. Wooden signs painted in faded colors announced the names of businesses and residences alike: _The Dragon’s Den,_ read one. _Myra Kathova’s Spells and Charms_ , read another. _Madame Kathi’s Mansion,_ read the one beyond that.

A guard dressed in silver and wielding a glittering one-handed blade ushered them into the city. Kono fell back to help Danny support Steve. Together, the battered and exhausted team made their way into the Shining City of Espolsha.


End file.
